Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
due to different authors different audiences and different purposes different embassies in those purposes we also discuss why the differences in the Gospels are not really contradictions they’re just natural and complementary pieces of information that give us a fuller picture of the life and work of our Lord and Savior but let’s get more specific about the Gospels now and ask what does each gospel uniquely tell us about Jesus all the Gospels are about Jesus but what main special truth does each gospel writer want us to a previous week that the Gospels are often broken down into a four fold presentation of Jesus person that is that matthew presents Jesus as king mark presents Jesus as servant Luke presents Jesus as man and john presents Jesus as God there is something to this paradigm but as I said to you last week we don’t want to overemphasize it to the point of suggesting that one of these aspects of Jesus is somehow not present in each gospel truly each gospel presents Jesus as king servant man and God nevertheless this traditional division does have something to do with the unique message of each book the particular emphasis emphasis of each author what I’d like to do is just take this traditional break the break down and refine it just a bit today here’s our goal in today’s class we’re going to investigate the four Gospels and attempt to discover what with each author specific message about Jesus and we have a lot of ground and clever cover we clearly don’t have time to read each gospel until in totality so we will be sampling the different Gospels and briefly noting significant details that are evident in the Gospels as a whole are in a gospel ties to us about Jesus here’s our lesson outline going through each gospel Matthew Mark Luke and John will go through the order that they appear in our Bibles look at each of our specific messages and then we’ll finish by considering the implications of these different emphases these different messages I pray God that as we appreciate the unique message of these gospel that it would impact us we’d be encouraged and Bolden challenged convicted as your word was meant to do Jesus name Amen all right so let’s start with Matthew open your Bibles please Matthew chapter 1 verse 1 a Pew Bible that would be page 9:57 opening – Matthew we’ll just start by reading the first verse Matthew 1 verse 1 where it says the record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David the son of Abraham all right so here’s the beginning of our answering the question what does Matthew want us to know about Jesus Matthew opens his book with a genealogy it won’t redo the whole thing but this genealogy establishes the line of inheritance from Jesus whom Matthew calls Messiah via Joseph to David to Abraham who else have we seen genealogies like this well Testament we also see one in Luke but this is this is something that the Jews were keen on preserving the genealogical heritage of the tribes are dealing a local heritage of a certain person and especially the king and one have the line of inheritance they want to record that that Jesus would record that what is significant about Jesus having a clear connection to David it has something to do with kingship the we first of all know that there’s the Davidic covenant where God promised to David someone from your line will be on the throne and throne belong to your line perpetually also even if even without the Davidic covenant if if Jesus is going to have any claim to kingship he needs to have some connection to royalty and he does going back to going back to David here one of the things one of the terms we also see in verse one is son of David actually appears a number of times in Matthew’s Gospel ten times actually more than any other gospel it appears three times in mark three times in Luke and not at all in John it’s a phrase that Matthew Matthew uses specially son of David to refer to Jesus and has something to do with this genealogy speaking of prophecy or the Davidic covenant has something to do with prophecy but look down at Matthew 1 verses 22 to 23 so just a little bit further down you see this genealogy and then as the narrative begins regarding Jesus birth we have this angelic explanation of Mary’s supernatural pregnancy look at verses 22 and 23 angel says or Matthew says now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by by the Lord through the Prophet behold the Virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which means God with us anybody remember where this messianic prophecy is from Matthew says Jesus fulfills this prophecy and this is something else that we see very evident in Matthew’s Gospel Matthew has a heavy emphasis on Old Testament scripture especially on how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament as the coming messiah the anointed king of Israel I would show you more prophecies but we have to move kind of quickly today so this will just have to view a sample lots of Old Testament patience in math you lots of fulfilled prophecy now look down at Matthew chapter 2 verse 2 here we have one of the events unique to Matthew’s Gospel it is the visit of the Magi no other gospel mentions it’s event and for whom are the Magi looking look at verse 2 where is he who has been born King of the Jews for we saw his star in the east and have come to worship Him so notice right here at the beginning of this gospel right after Jesus is born we have someone acknowledging that Jesus is King of the Jews and the this Caravan brings royal gifts but notice what’s odd about this statement who’s making it that you are a Gentile these are Gentiles now the one saying where’s the king the Jews this is a Gentile this is somebody not from Israel and this whole group that comes to worship and maybe bringing gifts they’re Gentiles in fact if we were to look at this account of Jesus birth we’ll see that oddly none of the Jews seem to be a concern about whether this this one they’re looking for in Bethlehem is really the Messiah or not the Jews don’t seem concerned when these these men come to look for a Messiah they don’t say oh we need to go find him find him with you the Jews only become troubled because Herod becomes troubled when when Herod says oh there’s a king that’s maybe competing for my power that says she was troubled and all Jerusalem with him the only concern we see for the Jews is the maintenance of the present political establishment and this also is a theme in Matthew we have the acknowledgment from Gentiles and lowly Jews that Jesus is the Messiah and the king while the majority of Jews who are favorable to Jesus at first they ultimately show themselves in different and even hostile to Jesus their king now to be a king king needs Kingdom look over Matthew chapter 3 verses 1 to 2 Matthew 3 verses 1 2 we read this now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand Jesus uses the exact same words a chapter later chapter 4 verse 17 chapter 4 verse 17 this is what we read from that time Jesus began to preach and say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand it’s right here it’s approaching it’s very near here’s another thing we see about Matthew central to this book is the idea of the kingdom usually referred to by Matthew as the kingdom of heaven he’s uniquely using that phrase kingdom of heaven we sometimes see kingdom of God where kingdom is used 54 times in Matthew we compare this to the other Gospels 44 times in Luke Luke uses the term kingdom 18 times in mark and 3 in John so even just from the use of words we see kingdom is a big part of Matthew and we know from our study of the Old Testament Israel was anxiously awaiting the kingdom and John and Jesus both announced the kingdom is at hand the kingdom is approaching but notice what John and Jesus both say they tell what the appropriate response is to the kingdom coming and notice what it is it is repentance turning from sin changing your mind about God about your sin resulting in a change of action so we can look we can see further if we just go back to John’s speech in Matthew 3 look at a little bit after what we read earlier in Matthew 3 verse 2 scan the passage for a second for entrance into God’s kingdom on what does John say the people who are what does John say specifically the people should not rely he said the kingdom is coming you need to repent don’t rely on this what is that thing don’t say to yourselves what that’s right don’t say that Abraham is your father because God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones don’t trust in your Jewish heritage don’t say well because I’m a Jew because I’m part of God’s chosen nation I’m going to receive the kingdom or I’m going to enter the kingdom says no that’s not it huh okay where’s my spot okay yeah only those who repent and bear fruit that is who manifest deeds of righteousness they are the ones who have a place in God’s kingdom in fact for those who don’t repent look at chapter three verses 10 to 12 what will be the outcome we’ll be he’ll be burnt this is judgment language he says don’t say that you’re I’m an Israelite I’m a Jew so I’m gonna get in if you don’t repent you are going to be winnowed and you’re gonna be burned up like chaff and this should remind us of some language we’ve heard recently from Matt Malachi where you said that the kingdom is coming the Lord is coming but he’s coming in judgment so you got to make sure that you’ve repented that you’re actually part of his righteous remnant because there’s a judgment coming Jesus says the same thing in his Sermon on the Mount flip over to Matthew 7 verse 21 Matthew 7 verse 21 Jesus says and this is one of the famous verses we recognize Matthew 7:21 not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven will enter such truth has striking implications for unrepentant Israel look at Matthew chapter 8 verses 5 to 13 Matthew 8 verses 5 to 13 in this passage we have the account of the faith filled Centurion another Gentile who does believe in Jesus as king King and Messiah but notice the remarks that Jesus makes regarding the Centurion and Israel in verses 11 to 12 so Matthew 8 verses 11 and 12 Jesus says I say to you that many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham Isaac and Jacob under darkness in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth so as we saw in the prophets especially Malachi recently it is the righteous remnant that will receive the kingdom not not every single son of Abraham by the way Israel has no or Israel had no excuse for not recognizing Jesus as their Messiah King because besides fulfilling prophecy what is Jesus doing throughout the gospel proving his divine kingship he’s manifesting what John calls signs but miracles Jesus is doing miracles he’s demonstrating his authority he’s the king king should be showing authority and that’s exactly what Jesus does in the book of Matthew Matthew Noah Jesus teaches with striking authority unlike the scribes and Pharisees he casts out legions of demons he rebukes the winds and the wit he heals the sick he gives miraculous powers to his disciples and sends them out he even raises the dead why record all these things was not simply a show that Jesus was compassionate or that um are ya not similar so that Jesus was compassionate but that he has Authority he has the divine authority of God and that’s why he demonstrates that and his miracles and then his teaching so we have this kingdom coming and yet we have Israel not ready to receive the kingdom so what happened to the kingdom was the promised kingdom lost due to Israel’s sin and unbelief did God’s plan just fail well look over to Matthew 13 Matthew 13 it’s in this passage where Jesus starts to teach in parables now that we’ll talk about this more but there’s a progression in Jesus ministry in each gospel where there’s he presents himself there’s an initial acceptance and some favor to Jesus but eventually people begin to question Jesus and then there’s outright hostility to Jesus and in a chapter before we have Jesus being accused of working miracles by the power of demons and at that moment or around that time it uses shifts in his ministry and he starts to teach in parables now this passage begins with the parable of the soils but look down at the descriptions of the parables each time they begin like verse 24 the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good field or good seed in his field verse 31 the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field or verse 33 the kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour and we see the same thing in verse 45 in verse 47 so notice this about the parables these parables are not just spiritual truths they describe the kingdom and you’ll notice that many of these parables have something to do with hiddenness or waiting and then a final revelation you have the seed being planted and later it manifests a plant or you have have eleven being put into flour and later it leavens the dough so it is with god’s kingdom the kingdom is not lost it will come but it will not come immediately the kingdom will be hidden like a small seed planted in the ground and in the future that the kingdom will come like a giant tree spreading across the earth but what must the faithful remnant do in the meantime what about Jesus disciples what about its followers well we see this in the preceding chapters of Matthew Matthew 18 to 20 they give a number of directives for righteous living while believers wait for the kingdom furthermore in Matthew 24 to 25 and all of that discourse Jesus warns that tribulation will come before the kingdom arrival but he urges perseverant faithfulness until that time for the sake of reward the kingdom will come just as Jesus says during his passover meal and Matthew 26 this is Matthew 26 29 Jesus says to his disciples but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in my father’s Kingdom it was necessary for Messiah to suffer on behalf of his people for their sins and to be rejected by them but the Kingdom messiahs Kingdom was not lost Jesus rose from the grave and announced and announced the following before his ascension the very end of Matthew Matthew 28 verses 18 to 20 so now at the end of Matthew’s Gospel Matthew 28 verses 18 to 20 Jesus says all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age now notice this last phrase that this last verse the end of the age this phrase also appeared in Matthew 13 talking about the parables it says at the end of the age this thing will happen well those parables were about the kingdom so when Jesus says I’ll be with you to the end of the age he’s making reference to the coming kingdom at the end of the age that’s when we’ll see the judgment that’s also when we’ll see the kingdom coming Jesus says fulfill this commission make disciples until I come with my kingdom and I will be with you until then right that will have to do for our survey at Mathew we had can only note so many details in the time we have but let’s sum up our findings let’s bring all these different pieces together what does Matthew want us to recognize about Jesus what special message does Matthew had for us regarding Jesus well it is that Jesus is the king he is Lord God man servant but he is the king but also he’s the king whose kingdom is still coming he’s the king whose kingdom is still coming and whose true citizens must persevere in faithfulness in order to enter into that kingdom so I’ll say that again Jesus is the king whose kingdom is still coming and whose true citizens must persevere in faithfulness for entrance into messiahs kingdom now such a word would have been timely for believing Jews in the early church because if they’re Jews they’ve been expecting the kingdom they’ve been waiting for the kingdom to come Messiah came but where was the kingdom but here’s an explanation from Matthew he lays out well no he had to be rejected at first in his first coming and the kingdom was delayed but it will come but only those who truly repent and persevere will enter into that kingdom so that’s Matthew let’s now move over to mark turn to mark 1 please I’ll pause for questions after mark but let’s go to mark mark chapter 1 mark has many similarities to matthew mark also presents Jesus as the Messiah as the king and Jesus again demonstrates his divine authority the astounding miracles amazement is one of the things that we see a lot in mark but Mark has very few references to the Old Testament like her unlike Matthew who does and Mark uses language that is more akin to a Gentile and even a Roman audience for example mark uniquely uses transliterated Latin words in his gospel rather than just using the Greek it transliterate a Latin word into Greek for the more mark sometimes translates Aramaic words for his audience Aramaic would be what the Jews were speaking it’s a very similar to Hebrew moreover mark leaves out many of the events that Matthew discusses and many of the lengthy discourses of Jesus it’s not that mark doesn’t feature any teaching of Jesus or that he doesn’t mention Jesus is teaching at all he actually does emphasize Jesus is preaching ministry but we don’t receive as much the content of that teaching in mark as we you in Matthew and notice how mark begins not with Jesus birth but with what when we hear about John the Baptist it begins with John the Baptist ministry and then uses being baptized by John and looked at at verse twelve and following verse twelve what term frequently appears in mark with each new action immediately yes and you’ve heard this from Pastor as he’s preaching Mike this is a unique aspect of mark everything seems to be happening immediately after something else now this is a rhetorical device to draw the reader or the listener into the narrative mark wants to emphasize that what’s happening is very important and dramatic it’s like you don’t want to take your eyes off of Jesus because something amazing or something else amazing is about to happen there’s a emphasis on action and drama in the book of Mark now go back to verse 1 notice the term gospel appears in this verse and the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God and look down to verses 14 to 15 chapter 1 verses 14 to 15 where it says now after John had been taken into custody Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe in the gospel now we read a very similar statement in Matthew just a moment ago after Jesus begins to preach who says the kingdom is at hand but here in mark he adds two phrases he says you need to repent or actually that was also in Matthew but he says you not only need to repent but also believe believe the gospel and remember we talked about what gospel means just means good news repent and believe the gospel though mark is the shortest of the four gospel accounts he uses the term gospel more than the other writers seven eight times in mark it depending on whether you count the last one compared to five in Matthew 6 and Luke and one and John and they all feature the Gospel to some extent but mark the most even in a short amount of space mark also includes the term gospel in some key statements on discipleship from Jesus such as Mark 8:35 you recognize this murk verse probably mark 8:35 Jesus says for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it now that phrase is not in Matthew or I think Luke’s version of that statement and the Gospels is the phrase unique to mark mark then emphasizes in his account both the believing of the message of Jesus and the declaring of that message to others it’s about the gospel another striking difference in mark is the utilization of space in Matthew we get to chapter 13 before opposition causes Jesus to start teaching in parables so Matthew’s 28 chapters that’s chapter 13 almost halfway through but look over at mark chapter 4 mark is 16 chapters but in chapter 4 we’ve already hit the parables Jesus already begins speaking in parables because in chapter 3 there already the opposition has already culminated against him they’re already calling him a demon empowered castrated demons so very quickly we move to UM very quickly we move to the hostile part of Jesus’s ministry in mark most of Mark is told in the context of opposition and hostility toward Jesus and his message and yet in the midst of this hostility we still read statements like Mark 734 you can turn over there mark 734 I actually think I have the wrong wrong reference I think might be mark 8:34 nope ah it’s a chapter 6 yeah chapter 6 chapter 6 34 apologize about that so mark 6 34 we read when Jesus went ashore you saw a large crowd and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things so even though opposition is already culminated in a way against Jesus he’s already had to shift to his parables ministry we see that out of compassion Jesus still teaches the people and even does momentous miracle of multiplying food out of compassion for them so even though there’s this hostility Jesus continues to serve and teach the people and then the most key section of mark is mark 8 and 9 look over at mark 8 in mark chapter 8 are mark 8 22 to 26 we get a miracle account only given in mark the miracle of the blind man who was healed in two stages this account is very strange unless we consider the context that comes right after remember the man he’s healed partly heesu and Jesus asked him what do you see and he says I see men walking around like trees and Jesus does something else then he says now what do you see and he’s able to see clearly but notice what comes right after how does what happen after this miracle allow us to make sense of the purpose of the miracle we have this two part healing man who is partially able to see and then it fully able to see when we have something with the disciples afterwards what’s the connection well let’s notice what does take place afterwards so okay starting in chapter chapter 8 verses 27 and forward Jesus cast the disciples who do you say that I am or who do people say that I am and who do you say that I am and they come up with the right answer verse 29 Peter answered and said to him you are the Christ Wow good job Peter you understood something you understood something really essential you see but it’s only partial sight because immediately when Jesus tells him what being Messiah means that he’s going to suffer and die in Jerusalem what does Peter do he tries to rebuke Jesus this will never happen to you I hope either you don’t see wills only see partially so it’s the same thing as what the blind man was experiencing he was partially healed of his sight and then fully healed so it is with the disciples this this miracle is actually an illustration of what is why Jesus clarified sin in verses 34 to 35 what it means to be a disciple of Messiah so chapter 8 verses 34 to 35 Jesus says or it says and he summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them if anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it so this is critical and it’s related to what Jesus revealed about his own ministry Jesus declares me they must take up their own crosses of execution they must deny themselves and follow me if Messiah suffers then his followers must suffer as well as they believe and declare the gospel chapter 9 takes us a step further i’ma go chapter 9 verses 34 to 35 by thirty thirty five to forty five I’m sorry chapter nine of mark versus thirty five to forty five James and John at this moment just asked for a special place in Jesus coming Kingdom grant that will be on your right and left they say they ask now again there’s partial sight and partial blindness in this request they do believe that Jesus is king and He will bring his kingdom but they still don’t understand the heart of Messiah or what following Messiah means so Jesus must explain this is verses 42 to 45 yep nope no not 42 back where I said first verse 35 35 calling them to himself inside the right reference no okay hold on just a second I’m looking for the sub part that says calling them to himself jesus said to them was it 42 some reason I’m not seeing it tonight go to the wrong chapter mark chapter 9 verse 42 wait it’s actually set for 10 that’s why oh I need to get these chapters straight so mark chapter 10 mark chapter 10 verses 42 to 45 this is where it says calling them to himself Jesus says then you know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great men exercise authority over them but it is not this way among you but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all we give him the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many by the way this verse this section is only in mark and Matthew Matthew does record it too but it’s only these two Gospels so Jesus is showing not only what it means to be Messiah but what it means to be messiahs follower only does one suffer like Messiah but one will be a servant just as Messiah came to serve and give his life for others to save them and it’s no accident that after this fuller disclosure of who Messiah is and what it means to follow him what occurs next in the narrative but a blind man is fully healed again this is not an accident this is this is connected this man is an illustration this miracle is an illustration of the revelation of Messiah and this blind man he does exactly what a true disciple should do which is he leaves he leaves his old life behind and he follows Jesus so falling Messiah means lowly serving and suffering like Messiah himself like matthew mark records in mark 13 Jesus announcement of coming tribulation and the Olivet discourse and he exhorts his disciples or mark records the excitation to persevere we see the agony of Messiah suffering as the servant king in mark 14 to 15 in his betrayal in his crucifixion the righteous one dying as a ransom he said but then we have mark 16 turn mark 16 now this is right where pastors preaching from today so you’re going to hear more about this later hopefully I’m not going to say anything that would contradict the pastor but if I do just listen to the pastor there is an issue in mark 16 regarding the true ending of mark yeah you probably have this noted in your Bibles there eat and according to the principles of textual criticism this strongly suggests that verses 9 to 20 were not original to mark we’re added later by somebody else we’re over the content of verse 9 does not really fit the flow of verse 8 especially the reintroduction of Mary Magdalene as the one who’s had seven demons cast out of her therefore I believe that mark ends in verse 8 that was the original ending of Mark’s Gospel but what an ending let’s look at verses 6 to 8 mark 16 verses 6 to 8 Jesus has risen and this is what the angel says to the women and he said to them do not be amazed you were looking for Jesus the Nazarene who has been crucified he has risen he is not here behold here’s the place where they laid him but go tell his disciples and Peter he’s going ahead of you to Galilee and there you’ll see him just as he told you they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had gripped them and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid this is so striking the book ends with the triumph of the Messiah servant he’s risen he’s going ahead of you go tell the disciples but what don’t the did the woman do the book ends with the statement that they didn’t tell anybody how could they not tell anyone well in one sense we know why here it’s just so amazing they’re overcome with amazement and fear this is just incredible what’s happened and again that’s been a theme in mark but on the and if it’s so incredible you’ve got to tell people you can’t just not tell people this is the most amazing and great news any that great news anyone could have ever in this way we know of course that the women did eventually tell others after all we do have this gospel Matt that meant that women had to tell other people p’march wants his readers to feel provoked provoked into thinking about how important it is to believe and share this amazing gospel which reveals and announces an amazing reality of what’s happened it’s like Marcus saying if you think it’s completely crazy that these women would not tell people the good news that they received from the angel so it is for you you would be completely crazy and heartless not to believe and share this news with others so we come back to our question about purpose what does Mark want us to see about Jesus here’s my view mark wants us to see that Jesus is the servant who will be truly imitated by his followers both in suffering and in the proclamation of the gospel it uses the servant who will be imitated by his followers and they will serve and suffer just like their master as they believe and share the gospel why was this message needed when it was written mark appears to be written in a context of persecution perhaps even Nero’s persecution around in the 60s ad Romans were tempted to reject the message or after believing it just refused to share it due to the consequences of suffering the mark wants to make clear if you believe that Jesus is truly the Messiah then you must suffer like he did as a servant and as a gospel witness if you become like your Savior if you become like your Savior you can be sure you have a place in his kingdom running a little bit short on time for any quick questions on Matthew or mark all right let’s keep moving we won’t say as much about Luke and John since we’ve already talked about their purposes a little bit in our previous class but I will make a few more comments on these two Gospels over to Luke Luke is the longest gospel even though it has fewer chapters in Matthew it is technically longer and it’s quite detailed important too for us to realize about Luke is that Luke is intimately connected with Acts the two works are designed to emphasize a common point both written by the same man to the same person to drive home the same point what is that point that the message of salvation that Paul declared and that was believed by the Gentiles for their inclusion into the God’s church is the unaltered truth from the unaltered truth about the Godman Jesus they haven’t been given a incomplete gospel or an altered gospel this is truly what happened and this is truly the message of salvation now this overarching point explains some of the distinctive features of the Gospel of Luke such as an emphasis on the sovereign plan of God 18 times in Luke we see the phrase had to be or must be for example chapter 2 verse 49 of Luke Luke 2:49 this is after Jesus’s left behind in the temple Jesus responds to his parents and he says to them why is it that you are looking for me did you not know that I had to be in my father’s house way or Luke chapter 4 verse 43 Jesus says to his disciple but it was a fulfillment of what God foretold everything and Luke and an acts precedes just as God for ordained even the suffering of Jesus and his apostolic witnesses so see God’s sovereign plan let’s just see an emphasis on the Holy Spirit Luke uniquely highlights the the phrase the spirit or the Holy Spirit his to works spirit descended visibly on the church in Acts chapter 2 soon after Jesus ascension and we see many works of the Spirit in Acts but Luke stresses that that same spirit is at work in Luke and in the account of Jesus life God’s supernatural working is totally consistent the same spirit that brought the Gentiles into the church was a spirit that worked through Jesus and and those around Jesus so we see the Holy Spirit we also see and this we talked about a little bit before and emphasis on the universality of the gospel message of salvation especially for the lowly the outcasts and the Gentile there are a whole bunch of examples of this in Luke but I’ll just give you a few just to illustrate Luke is the only one to record the visit of the lowly shepherds to Jesus after his birth in Luke chapter 2 no other gospel mentions that also Luke is the only one to record the conversion of Zacchaeus the tax collector in Luke chapter 19 definitely would have been a Jew but also an outcast too as it to be a tax collector also Luke is the only one to record Jesus rebuke to the people of Capernaum and Luke chapter 4 verses 23 to 30 if you remember what that rebuke is all about Jesus reads from a scroll in Isaiah he says I’m the fulfillment of that scroll then he says you’re gonna quote some proverbs to me you’re going to reject me but I tell you but I want to remind you that in the Old Testament God saved humble Gentiles like the widow at Zarephath the cydonia know of Zarephath and name in the Syrian over stubborn rebellious Jews of course when he said that that just enraged the Jews and they wanted to kill him immediately but Jesus is making a point says humble Jews will be included in God’s kingdom over our humble Gentiles be included in God’s kingdom over you if you are stubborn and rebellious Luke’s the only one who records that instance so with this brief survey let’s come back to our question Luke’s Gospel by itself tell us about Jesus what does he want to emphasize I would say it’s that Jesus is the god man who came to save whole people he’s the man who came to save all men through simply believed in him Jew or Gentile you don’t need to add ceremonial provisions from the law you don’t have to become a Jew it is simply Bible repentance and belief in Jesus all men will be saved by the god man Jesus now why would this gospel confirmation be necessary for the Gentiles at the time of Luke’s writing well according to Acts the Judaizers had quickly come among Paul’s converts and insisted that Gentiles cannot be saved unless they live according to the law and become circumcised moreover as we also see in the book of Acts the Jews persecuted Jewish Christians who are looking to share the gospel with Gentiles both of these situations would probably prompt the new Gentile believers those who came to faith through Paul’s ministry to wonder whether they really believed the right gospel Luke says no the gospel has always been to halt men not simply to the Jews and not saying that people must become like Jews so we see Luke and now finally John John is the latest of the Gospels in the most unique John very likely aware of the other three Gospels deliberately chose not to discuss most of the same events in the other Gospels though he does sometimes give extra in the primary intended audience of the gospel John is a little perplexing on the one hand John features a number of quotations of the Old Testament but not as many as Matthew and there are many allusions to the Old Testament in John that are made without explanation for example John does not attempt to explain the title the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world in John chapter 1 verse 29 and verse 35 this is a phrase unique to John but doesn’t explain it to appreciate that phrase you have to be familiar with the Old Testament sacrificial system how a lamb can be a substitute for sin another example John does not attempt to explain Jesus words about the Angels ascending or descending on the Son of Man Jesus says that in John one fifty John chapter 1 verse 51 right after said Nathaniel he he expressed his belief in Jesus me says you think it’s amazing because I told you what you were doing before you came to me I tell you you’re going to see angels descending ascending and descending on the Son of Man on me this is an allusion to the dream of Jacob in Genesis 28 where he’s a kid saw angels ascending and descending on a heavenly staircase that’s Genesis 28 verse 12 John doesn’t explain that the audience is assumed to be able to recognize that so that leans toward some Jewish audience on the other hand John does explain in John chapter 4 verse 9 that Jews have no dealings with Samaritans which is an odd explanation if you’re writing to Jews because that would have been obvious to any Palestinian Jew of course Jews don’t have any dealings with Samaritans we don’t like those people and then in John 5 John introduces the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem to his hearers as if they were unfamiliar with it oh there’s this pool in Jerusalem now that this lame man was gathering next to named Bethesda as if they didn’t know about this furthermore very striking her yet furthermore John often refers to Jesus opponents in the Gospel of John simply as the Jews whereas in the other Gospels he called them the Pharisees the scribes that the Sadducees moves the time in John it’s just the Jews also John John translates Aramaic terms into Greek for his readers so we see things that suggest a Jewish audience but then there are these kind of odd qualities I don’t really fit with a Jewish audience so my explanation of these details my tentative explanation of these details that John does write to Jews but to Hellenized Jews Jews influenced by Greek culture we’re used to reading the Bible in Greek and who don’t live in Palestine there hellenized Jews elsewhere in the Mediterranean that would make sense I think of the different details few other distinctives to note from the Gospel of John is very theological there are only seven or eight miracles depending on how you count it recorded in John but each miracle is Jesus that’s usually explained in the passage before or right after the miracle as example after the feeding of the 5000 in John chapter 6 we get teaching from Jesus and what’s the teaching on how Jesus is the bread of life superior to any earthly bread so there’s connection between the miracle and the theology of Jesus indeed John contains many words from Jesus or John contains many words from Jesus especially regarding Jesus identity we know that various I am statements this famous I am statements they all come from the Gospel of John I am the bread of life I am the light of the world I am the door of the Sheep I’m the Good Shepherd I’m the resurrection and the life I am the way the truth and the life I am the vine all those come from John not expressed by Jesus we could also add John 8:58 truly truly I say to you before Abraham was born I am now these statements emphasize the exclusive nature of Jesus message in many ways john is the most direct and confrontational of the gospels it is the anti post-modernism gospel if i can say that phrase he doesn’t leave you with any avenue for inclusivity there are no many roads that lead to heaven jesus said i am the way the truth and life I am the one so reading the book of John should not leave one in any doubt as to who Jesus actually is what with the seriousness of Jesus claims Jesus is John declares the great servant Messiah the god man Yahweh in flesh the only salvation for sinners tied to this theological emphasis understandably is an emphasis in John on belief the word believe is used 98 times in John’s Gospel 5 to 10 times more than any of the other Gospels you must believe and we know the most famous example John 3:16 God loved the world that gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life so you must believe but John demonstrates that not all belief in Jesus is the same not all of it is the same or worth commending look at John chapter 2 verses 23 to 25 John 2 verses 23 to 25 where we read this now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast many believed in his name observing his signs which he was doing but Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them for he knew all men because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man for he himself knew what was in man this is very poignant since people believe but Jesus did not believe in their believing John emphasizes there is such a thing as incomplete or superficial belief in Jesus John says similarly in John 12 verses 42 to 43 that many of the rulers believed in Jesus yet they were not confessing him for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue because these men loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God so on one hand we get confused by the statements like they believed in him but they love the approval of men the John is emphasizing there is such a thing as superficial or incomplete belief you have to truly believe in Jesus so let’s bring this together what what does John want us to understand about Jesus here’s my answer John shows us that Jesus is muscley is for eternal life Jesus is my new Jewish converts you’re going to be cut off from their families and communities treated as non-jews for following Jesus therefore there probably was a temptation among these Jews as is evident in the book of Hebrews to downgrade belief in Jesus to believe in Jesus in a superficial way yeah I I accept Jesus but I’m not going to say that he’s God they wanted perhaps to believe in a Jesus who was less than who Jesus truly is John stresses you can’t do that you can’t do that and be saved the only way you can obtain salvation is if you go all the way in believing in Jesus and to believe in the Jesus who really is well let’s wrap up I’ve looked at the four Gospels what were their unique messages all right thank you I know that people who might frame their messages slightly differently than I have today but should be something along these lines Matthew says Jesus is the Messiah King whose kingdom is still coming for the faithful mark says Jesus is the servant Messiah whose followers will serve and suffer like him Luke says Jesus is the Messiah who came to save all men Gentiles included and John says Jesus is the Messiah God who must be truly believed as he is in order to obtain eternal life what does this mean for us today certainly we can apply these messages to ourselves do we believe these things do we believe that Jesus is the king whose kingdom is still coming do we live as those who will be citizens in that Kingdom who will find a place in that kingdom do we believe that Jesus is the one who suffered on our behalf then do we suffer on his behalf do we become like him in our proclamation of the gospel servus and in suffering do we believe that Jesus is the one who came to bring salvation for all apart from works apart from any external requirements or do we try to add works to our own salvation or in the message we proclaim you’ve got to become like um you have to become like me you have to become like an American Christian if you want to be saved work also do we believe that Jesus is the one who john painstakingly demonstrated he is Yahweh in human flesh do we confess him to be the only way and does our belief in him cause us to abide in him and keep his Commandments we should know just by looking at all these Gospels they all gave the same message but their message was tailored to the audience they didn’t change the message but they were paying attention to what their audience already knew and what were the key issues for the audience they cut to the issue mark you mark for instance you guys are tempted to reject this gospel or to hide this gospel due to persecution I want to emphasize to you that you can’t do that or John you’re tempted to believe that Jesus is less than he is I’m gonna make explicit for you who Jesus actually is so that you don’t miss it because I want you to be saved we should do the same and our own evangelism and discipleship let’s pay attention let’s be be aware trying to discern what do people already know and what are the issues that are holding them back from Christ because we want to we want to get to those issues so we hit the other thing is we haven’t really got the core so this is these differences these messages they are relevant for us well that’s we’re out of time for today if you have questions or comments based on today’s lesson please email me we can continue this conversation but that’s it for this week next week we still continue our introduction to the New Testament and the Gospels as we overview Jesus life and ministry and we work out a chronology of Jesus life what happened when the gospel is all recording things well what’s the time line we’re going to construct that next week let’s those in prayer our God we know that these messages are are crucial we do love your gospel we do love that you have revealed to us the truth about Jesus but these gospel writers that you move by your spirit they knew that their audiences were dealing with certain things they were temptations there were concerns there were struggles and they wrote to address those things and we have those same struggles we are a weak just as the original recipients were and we need we need sanctification we need strengthening so we pray that you would do that by the words of your gospel by the preaching the pastor today by the fellowship with the people in the church pray that you build up and bless your people today amen all right everyone I’ll see you next week you’re welcome thank you